5. SAFEGUARDING ONE’S LIFE
Similarly, it is a positive commandment
to remove any obstacle that could pose a
danger to life, and to be very careful
regarding these matters, as it states
(Deuteronomy 4:9) ‘Be cautious and
guard your life.’‛
Maimonides (1135-1204), Mishneh Torah,
Laws of the Murderer and Guarding Life 11:4
8. FAITH VS. HEALING
SEEKING CURE: INTERFERENCE WITH G-D’S PLAN?
“I am the Lord your healer.” – Exodus 15:26
“See now that it is I!
I am the One, and there is no god like Me.
I cause death and grant life.
I strike and I heal, and no one can rescue
from My Hand.” – Deuteronomy 32:39
9. FAITH VS. HEALING
SEEKING CURE: INTERFERENCE WITH G-D’S PLAN?
And Asa suffered from a foot ailment in
the 39th year of his reign until his
ailment spread upward; and even in his
illness, he did not seek the Lord, but the
physicians.”
– Chronicles II, 16:12
10. DOES JUDAISM REJECT MEDICAL
INTERVENTION?
Should man
withdraw from
attempts at healing
self or others?
11. OBLIGATION TO SEEK HEALING
“And if men quarrel, and one strikes the other with a
stone or with a fist, and the victim does not die but is
confined to bed, if he gets up and walks about
outside on his staff, the assailant shall be cleared;
He shall only pay for the victim’s idleness and he
shall provide for his cure.”
– Exodus 21:18-19
12. OBLIGATION TO SEEK HEALING
He shall only pay for the victim’s idleness and he shall
provide for his cure.”
– Exodus 21:18-19
“The school of Rabbi Ishmael taught, ‘He
shall provide for his cure’ – from this verse we
learn that permission is granted to physicians
to heal.”
– Talmud, Bava Kama 85a
‚And we do not say, ‘God has
struck, will the physician then go and
heal?!’‛
– Rashi (1040–1105), ibid.
13. OBLIGATION TO SEEK HEALING
Obligated Physical assault
Obligated Illness not imposed by human
14. OBLIGATION TO SEEK HEALING
And heal, he shall heal.
– Exodus 21:19
From the word ‚and heal,‛ we understand that there is
permission to heal. What is the purpose of the doubling, ‚he
shall heal?‛
Without it, one might think that only wounds inflicted by
humans may be healed, but that healing illness caused by God
could be seen as defying His edict. Therefore the word is
repeated, to teach us that it is permitted to heal all illnesses.‛
– Tosafot (1200 – 1300), ibid.
15. SUMMARY
Seeking the care of physicians is
• Morally permissible
• Obligatory
• Even to cure illnesses that have
no discernible human cause.
